[nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice

Sat Jan 30 02:44:32 UTC 2016

Do you have a local nfb chapter that could maybe support you with the
disabled services office?

On Friday, January 29, 2016, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hello Suzanne,
>
> No, I am not a client of the vocational rehabilitation agency. And no,  I
> currently do not receive financial assistance. A student needs to be
> enrolled on a half time basis in order to receive financial assistance, and
> I am only taking one class.
>
> I am sure there are lots of things my disabilities office should be doing,
> but that does not mean that they are doing them or have any desire to do
> them in the future. Unfortunately, I do not believe I have the capacity to
> fight the college disability office all on my own right now.
>
> Elizabeth
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>] On Behalf
> Of Suzanne Germano
> via nabs-l
> Sent: Friday, January 29, 2016 9:27 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> <javascript:;>>
> Cc: Suzanne Germano <sgermano at asu.edu <javascript:;>>
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] A Struggling Blind Student Looking for Some Advice
>
> Hi Elizabeth
>
> Are you a client of VR? I know you mentioned other people getting stuff but
> you did not state if you are a client or qualify.
>
> I had to fight vr initially. I did it on my own. I adked for something
> justifiable. She said no. I filed an official appeal and my request was
> approved.
>
> Do you get financial aid? Do have more you can qualify for ie loans?
> Getting a student loan for a computer would be well worth it if you
> qualify.
>
> Speak to the head of disabled student services, then speak to who ever is
> above them and continue up until your situation is taken care of. It is a
> pain but I have had to fight battles to get stuff.
>
> Your disabled student office should have a minimum of one computer with
> jaws
> for test taking. If not, push for it.
>
> I hope you can get this resolved
>
> Good luck
>
> On Friday, January 29, 2016, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>>
> wrote:
>
> > Hello All,
> >
> > There was a message thread on here not too long ago about someone
> > being upset about not being able to use a computer in the classroom.
> > It seems as though people on here were offended by my response to this
> message.
> > However,
> > from my point of view, being able to use a computer in the classroom
> > seems to be more of a privilege rather than a right because not
> > everyone can afford a computer that they can take to class.
> >
> > I really wish I had the money to buy a new computer that I could take
> > with me to class because then maybe I would not be so worried about
> > failing my exams due to a lack of accommodations by my college. When I
> > took classes before, I was able to use a computer in the testing
> > center for answering short answer and essay questions that were on my
> > exams. However, it appears as though the college no longer offers this
> > as an accommodation. The college is supposed to have computers on
> > campus with JAWS on them, but most of the time, these computers do not
> > work correctly, and every time I ask about the status of the computer
> > with JAWS on it in their new testing room, there always seems to be
> > something wrong with it. So I am really at a loss as to what to do for
> > my exams, and I am really scared that I am going to fail my class
> > because of a lack of accommodations.
> >
> > So what exactly am I supposed to do if I do not have a way to write
> > out my answers for the short answer questions that are going to be on
> > my exam? My college seems to rely heavily on the disabilities office
> > to provide and approve accommodations on campus. Therefore, if I talk
> > to my professor, she will most likely tell me that I would need to
> > talk to the disabilities office in order to get any accommodations for
> > my exam. But the disabilities office does not appear to provide the
> > accommodations I need, so I feel like I am just caught up in some
> bureaucratic mess.
> >
> > It seems to me the only reliable accommodations the disabilities
> > office provides for exams are readers. However, this does not work for
> > me when answering short answer questions on exams because I find it
> > rather difficult to write anything longer than a couple of words by
> > dictating it to someone else to write down for me. So the best
> > accommodation for me in this situation is to use a computer since I do
> > not know Braille very well. But since I do not have my own computer
> > that I can take to class, and the college does not appear to know how
> > to properly maintain the computers on campus that have JAWS on them, I
> > feel as though I am at a loss as to what to do for my exams. If I had
> > known this was the situation I was going to be facing, I probably
> > would not have signed up to take this class.
> >
> > I guess some days I just really hate being blind. And I get frustrated
> > when I see other blind students get pretty much everything handed to
> > them from their vocational rehabilitation agency. Not everyone gets
> > privilege of receiving services from a vocational rehabilitation
> > agency, and not everyone has the privilege of having others help them
> > advocate to receive services from the vocational rehabilitation agency
> > either. And I guess I just find it rather difficult to make anything
> > out of my life given my limited amount of resources and a lack of
> > support from other people.
> >
> > Anyway, I am sorry if I have offended anyone with any of my messages
> > to the email list. This is not what I mean to do. I am just really
> > frustrated by life right now, and I am really struggling in trying to
> > figure out what to do. It seems to me like nothing in my life ever
> > works out, and that I can never really get the support I need from
> > others when I need it. The NFB has never really been there for me
> > before, so I am rather skeptical that I will be able to receive any
> > help or support from the NFB, but I thought I would at least give it a
> try.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Elizabeth
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > nabs-l mailing list
> > nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;> <javascript:;>
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> > nabs-l:
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/sgermano%40asu.edu
> >
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/lizmohnke%40hotmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/sgermano%40asu.edu
>